NJ Workers Comp Recognizes Two Types of Injury

NJ Workers Comp Recognizes Two Types of InjuryIt is important to understand that there are two types of work injuries recognized under New Jersey workers compensation law.

There are two types of work injuries that are recognized in New Jersey's workers' compensation law. The first is the specific accident. This is a very easy one to understand. There's a particular moment when you sustain an injury. You fall down the stairs and break your leg. You are a truck driver and you get into an accident. You can say that on this day at this time, these injuries occured.

The second type is more missunderstood. It is called an occupational exposure claim. In this type of claim, there is no particular moment when the injury occurred. It is a result of either repetitive motion or harmful exposures over a long period of time. For example, you are a factoy worker or a construction worker and your job requires you to be exposed to dust, fumes, and other noxious elements. You've also worked at this job for a period of time and now you have lung disease. Maybe you have cancer or something along those lines. You have the ability to file a New Jersey workers' compensation claim. There is no one second or one moment you can point and say this iswhen this individual got lung disease. It is the result of cumulative exposures over a long period of time. There are also physical injuries that qualify as occupational exposures. Secretaries type for a long period of time. Over time they can sustain carpal tunnel syndrome. There's no particular moment when it occurred. It's an exposure over a great deal of time. Contruction workers that work with heavy equipment are lifting heavy materials and using jack hammers. Eventually their body may fail. There is the opportunity, and the right, to file a New Jersey workers' compensation claim for those types of injuries